Spring Cleaning – The Areas You Might Forget

Is your home ready for spring? Here’s a few spring cleaning tips to get you started.

Cleaning can feel like a thankless and repetitive chore that you can never really finish. It seems like once you get one area of your home tidy, another is dirty again. But it’s a fantastic feeling to have everything in your home clean all at once with a thorough spring cleaning. When you’re ready to tackle that task this spring, don’t forget these five easy-to-miss areas. Here are some tips to accomplish them quickly and easily.

Overhead areas:

Don’t forget about surfaces above eye level. The top of the fridge and the space above kitchen cabinets, air vents and filter vents, ceiling fans and corner cobwebs are easy to overlook. The best way to start cleaning any room is to start from the top and work down, so check ceilings first and work your way down to floors last. While you are near the ceiling take down your overhead globes and light covers. Besides filling up with bugs attracted to the light, they also get dusty and greasy. Small globes can be unscrewed and placed in the dishwasher. If you don’t have a dishwasher let them soak in some hot soapy water to get them sparkling clean.

Windows:

Be ready for fresh breezes to blow through your home this spring with clean windows. Clean window frames, molding and sills on the inside but don’t forget the outside sills and tracks of your windows and sliding doors. They catch dirt and debris quickly over the winter months. Make sure you remember to check your curtains and blinds too. Giving blinds a good dusting every week or two will save you from a more intensive cleaning later. But, if you have put it off, an old sock on each hand lightly sprayed with your favorite multipurpose cleaner will get them cleaned quickly. Light drapery is easy to freshen up in the washer, but curtains that can’t be washed easily can be dusted and cleaned with the vacuum upholstery attachment. Need an easy fix to clean the outsides of your windows during pollen season? Check out our favorite product here: We Do Windows.

Hand held items:

Look out for all the many surfaces of your home that are touched daily. Cabinet faces in kitchens and bathrooms, drawer pulls, door knobs and door frames all gather dirt and grease from fingers. A magic eraser works wonders on doors and door molding. For wood cabinets a soft rag dipped in a Murphy’s oil soap and warm water mixture makes cleaning quick and easy. Don’t forget about light switch plates and stair banisters.

Appliances:

After a holiday season of cooking, you probably have the inside of your refrigerator and oven on your to do list. When you clean the fridge, don’t forget to pull it out from the wall and clean the sides of the appliance as well as the wall and floor underneath. Dust bunnies love to gather there, along with cat toys and food crumbs. When you clean your oven, for safety, please clean it by hand rather than the “self-cleaning mode.” Not only will the self-cleaning option make your house stink, it also heats your oven to dangerously high temperatures, and you will still have to clean it after that heating cycle anyway. Spray-on oven cleaner left to sit a few hours will loosen baked on bits and make it easier to scrub them away. If you want to steer clear of the more harsh chemicals you can clean an oven safely and cheaply with baking soda and vinegar. Type that into your internet search window for simple to follow instructions. Don’t forget about smaller appliances too. Microwaves, toasters, coffee makers and other small appliances also need periodic cleaning.

Dig Deeper:

Look past the “surfaces” of your home and consider where other “dust and debris” is collecting. Is there a closet you have difficulty closing? Drawers you would rather not open? How about the unnecessary files that are accumulating in your email box? Spring is a time for new beginnings, and an opportunity to reduce the physical as well as mental clutter in your life. If you are interested in a fun and attainable way to reduce that clutter, check out our blog. Last spring I tried the “40 Bags in 40 Days” challenge and wrote about my experience. You can read about it here: The elephant in the room – spring cleaning.

If you are inspired to make a clean start this season, I hope that these tips will help make your spring cleaning easier and more effective. Of course, if you would like the easiest solution to cleaning, we are just a phone call away. Whether you would like a one-time spring cleaning, or would prefer help keeping your home in tip-top shape all year round with routine cleaning appointments, we have a cleaning plan that will fit your needs.